Pneumatic cotton harvester



July 11, 1950 F. 0. RYAN 2,514,519

PNEUMATIC COTTON HARVESTER Filed Oct. 10, 1946 V SSheets-Sheet 1 I. 5 c L15] -4--U"| q i 2, n, L01: 3. J3 N a E vw I i Q IIIVEI ItOZ lglz'xa July 11,1950

'F. 0. RYAN PNEUMATIC COTTON 'HARVESTER Filed Oct. 10. 19. 16

'25 Sheets-Sheet 2 I u vet/tor [ix 0. Ryan y 1950 F. o.- RYAN PNEUMATIC COTTON HARVESTER 3 Sheets-.Sheb 3 Fild 0221i. 10', 1946 Inventor Patented July 11, 1950 #uNIireD rs PATENT OFFICE PNEUMATIC COTTON HARVESTER incur-o. Ryan, Quitaque,-;'1ex. Application 001501181 10, 194$,S1ihfN0t 702386 1 Claim.

'- This inv'ention relates itoza'cotton harvester of the type which (strips-"the bolls'zfrom the standing stalks and-deliversthem into-a suitablereceptacle associa't'ed and "moving vii th the machine over the' field.

Ari-object 'of'the'pr'esent :invention -is to prowide-a simple and "efficient cotton harvester of the' above ftype adapted 'to be coupled to a tractor so as to be supported thereby at the front and to be'drawn-by th -tiiactor over the field.

A further object of the invention is to provide a harvester of' thexabove kind includin a strip pingscoop forremoving the bolls from the stalks 'o'f the s'tandingplants; a"blower for receiving the bolls from the stripping scoop and "delivering them rearwar'dly intoareceptaclemieans for delivering'the bolls from thew-scoop to the ,blower, and meansfor driving the blowerz-and thee-deliver'ingime'ans from the power take-off shaft of-the tra'ctor. M

.The- ,exact nature of the iyention, as wel-l as other-objects and features-thereof, willbecom'e apparent "from the following 'description --when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan View, partly in section, of a cotton harvester constructed in accordance with the present invention and adapted to simultaneously operate upon standing plants in two adjacent rows;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary transverse section taken on line 4--4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal section through the auxiliary blower, taken on line 55 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a transverse section taken on line 6- 6 of Figure 2.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises a suitable rectangular frame 5 having a platform 6 secured thereon, and provided with coaxial rear ground or supporting wheels 1. Rigid with and projecting forwardly from the front of the frame 5 centrally between the sides thereof is a tongue 8 that extends forwardly and upwardly as shown in Figure 2 and is adapted to rest upon the draw bar 9 of a tractor l and to be coupled to said draw bar as at l i. In this way, the front of the frame is supported at the desired position above the surface of the ground by the tractor draw bar, and the tractor is adapted to tow or draw the harvester over the field.

( Cl."f56- -3.0

said scoops being arranged to move along adja- *cent -rowsof standing cotton plants upon forward travel of the-machine. Each stripping scoop 'has a b'ottom com'pos'edbf spaced tines l'3 adapted to-receive the s'talks 'of the plants -therebetwe'en below-the bo'lls 'and to strip the latt'er' from? the stalks upon f'orw'ard travel-hf theinachine. ns

shown more clearly in Figures" 3 and 4, eacl'i tine l '3 preferably includesspaced 'upp.er" -and lower members l 3-wand '1 3b oined' near the front eiids "UL-and *I5 at th'eir' rear': ends, the upper members 1 3a beingin the -form 0f fiat-strips and 'thememered rearwardly therefrom.

A main fan blower l! is mounted ontha'platform"'6"-directly behind each sc'oop' "I 2 and has" an "intake mouth [8' forming-the back of theassociated I scoop. 3 Each blower has a discharge pipe IE9} and thesedi'sch'arge "pipes extend rearwardly in converging relation and are joined together at to form a single rear portion 2| that extends upwardly and rearwardly for discharging the bolls into a receptacle 22 associated with and moving with the harvester. This receptacle may consist of a trailer vehicle suitably hitched to the rear of the harvester as shown in Figure 2. The blowers I! include casings within which are rotatably mounted fans 22 having transverse shafts connected by a transverse drive shaft 23.

A third auxiliary blower 24 is mounted on the platform 6 midway between the blowers I1 and rearwardly of drive shaft 23, said blower 24 hav-- ing side inlets 25 and a peripheral outlet pipe 26 connected to the discharge pipes H! where they join at 20. The blower 24 is located nearer the discharge end of pipe portion 2| than the blowers l1, and assist the latter in effectively discharging the bolls into the receptacle 22. Blower 24 has a fan 21 mounted on a transverse shaft 28 Which is operatively connected to the drive shaft 23 by suitable means such as a sprocket chain gearing 29. The shaft 28 is also geared at 30 to a longitudinal shaft 3| journaled on the platform 6 and extending from the blower 24 to the front of the platform 6 where it is connected by a universal joint 32 to a telescopic extensible shaft 33 adapted to be coupled by a universal joint 34 to the power take-01f shaft 35 of the tractor ID.

A further transverse shaft 36 is journaled on the tongue 8 and has its end extended across the scoops 12 above the tines l3 and journaled in the plates l6. Each end of shaft 33 carries a longitudinal series of radial fingers 31 between the sides of the associated scoop. The fingers 31 act to deliver the detached bolls from the scoops to the associated blowers 11 upon rotation of shaft 36 in the direction of the arrow shown in Figure 3, the fingers 31 operating within the scoops above thetines thereof. Power is transmitted to shaft 36 from shaft 23 by a suitable driving connection such as a belt gearing 38. It 'will be understood that the tongue 8 is so arranged and formed as to support the forward ends of the tines I3 the proper distance above the surface of the ground to engage the plant beneath the bolls. It will be seen that the fan or blower 24 is driven from the power take-off shaft 35 of the tractor, and power is transmitted from this shaft 28v to the shafts 23 and 36 so as to drive the blowers I1 and to rotate shaft 36 and the fingers 31 carried thereby.

Upon forward travel of the tractor, the harvester is drawn forwardly thereby so that the scoops I2 engage the standing plants in adjacent rows. As the machine travels ahead, the stalks of the plants pass rearwardly between the tines l3 of the scoops and the bolls are ultimately stripped from the stalks of the plants by reason of the fact that the tines l3 are sufficiently close together to prevent passage of the bolls downwardly therebetween. The rotating fingers 31 then deliver the detached bolls rearwardly to the blowers I1 so that the latter will forcibly discharge the bolls into the receptacle 22 with the assistance of the auxiliary blower 24. Use of the blower 24 permits use of blowers 11 of minimum size and assures positive discharge of the bolls into the receptacle 22 so that the discharge pipes will not become clogged.

- From the foregoing description, it is believed that the construction, operation and advantages of the present invention will be readily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art. It will be apparent that the machine is very simple in construction, eficient, and easy to use. Modifications and changes in details of construction are contemplated, such as fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What I claim is:

A two row cotton harvester comprising a frame having rear ground wheels, means to couple the forward end of the frame to and support the same upon the rear of a tractor, forwardly in clined stripping scoops mounted. in spaced side by side relation on the front of the frame in position to move along adjacent rows of standing cotton plants, a fan blower mounted on the frame directly behind each scoop and having an intake mouth forming the back of the latter, a discharge pipe extending rearwardly from each blower, said discharge pipes converging rearwardly and joined together at their rear ends, an auxiliary blower mounted on the frame between and rearwardly of the first named blowers and having a discharge pipe connected with the first named discharge pipes where they join,.said discharge pipes merging to a single rear pipe portion, means to drive the fan of said auxiliary blower from the power take-off shaft of a tractor, a transverse shaft connecting the fan shafts of the first named blowers, and a driving connection between the fan shaft of the auxiliary blower'and said transverse shaft.

FELIX 0. RYAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Wallace July 13, 1948 

